Ya know, every so often, a good crack up the back of the head is a blessing. I think it's human nature: You get into a groove and find comfort in doing things by rote. Regrettably, we tend to continue no matter how irrelevant or actually counterproductive the activity has gotten.

Ask journalists and PR people, alike, and many will tell you that press releases seldom result in making news. News releases simply are not the way news stories happen in today’s highly competitive world.

There are, of course, a few exceptions. Apple Computer and Nike are two companies that have mastered the technique of actually delivering legitimate news stories through their news releases, and they achieve outstanding results because of it. Apple and Nike know that reporters are paid to write stories so their news releases are actual stories. But they are the exception … the rare exception … rather than the rule.

The vast majority of news releases are little more than self-serving promotion and thinly disguised attempts at sales marketing. Don’t believe me? Well, then, explain that compulsive habit of adding an “About…” paragraph at the end of each news release?

It started during the tech boom of the 1990s when startups had CEOs and marketing people, not communicators, writing news releases, and they saw it was an opportunity to turn a news release into a sales brochure. In other words, “Since we don’t have any real news to announce, let’s issue a release to make up stuff and brag about how great we are!” When the attorneys got their hands on it, they recognized such bravado as “b-s” and insisted that releases contain safe harbor statements that essentially said that nothing in the release is true and the company has no memory of ever having claimed it and it’s not their fault.

Apple and Nike, by the way, don’t detract from the news they are announcing releases to bother with those insipid “About…” paragraphs because if you don’t know who they are and can’t easily find out on the Web, then you really don’t matter. Sorry.

Many PR agencies know that releases are largely a waste of time but crank them out nonetheless at the behest of clients.

By best estimates, public relations people in America flood the news media with upwards of 75-million news releases each year. The two largest news release distribution services – PR Newswire and BusinessWire – alone distribute approximately four million releases every month. Pile on the countless news releases that PR agencies, companies, governments and organizations email, fax and mail to the media, and the total amount is staggering. It is a myth that sending news releases to thousands of reporters will make a difference. Quite the contrary, you just might get tagged as an annoyance.

Here is the reality – most news releases are not read or are ignored. Unsolicited, irrelevant and meaningless news releases – the overwhelming bulk of releases emailed to newsrooms – are the #1 complaint of journalists about the PR business.

The problem has reach such proportions that most news organizations now actively work to block press releases in special spam filters to prevent the sheer volume of them from overwhelming the email inboxes of reporters and editors.

There is a rising tide of concern that the public relations industry could be labeled among the top spammers on the Internet. PR’s volume of blind and unsolicited pitches to the news media via email is already staggering, out of control and growing, fueled by a proliferation of online services that promise to deliver your press release to thousands of journalists by email, even though such an approach is rarely effective.

A PR person recently sent a single news release to about 1,300 people reporters and editors. I learned about it because an editor I know shared the email with me after counting the names in the “To” line. He stopped counting at 1,300 email addresses. The sender hadn’t bothered to hide the 1,300 in the “Bcc” line, but simply just mindlessly blasted out his news release with all the names revealed. The amount of space those 1,300 names consumed in an email was massive. Incidentally, he left the “Subject” line empty even though that’s an important place to try to get a journalist’s attention.

So, here’s the takeaway: First, blast and unsolicited emails rarely work to either get the attention of a journalist or to result in a story. What’s more, many PR people are actually teaching smart spam software to recognize more and more of the materials of public relations as spam. Hence, PR is becoming seen as online spam. Sorry but true.

Second, the news business has gotten so fiercely competitive that reporters are mandated to find exclusive and appealing stories that have not appeared elsewhere. News releases go to everyone so what reporter who wants to keep a job will bother to touch it? Today’s style of effective media relations is relationship-based. The most effective PR people smartly build trusted relationships with only the right reporters and share story ideas, one-on-one.

Here’s my advice – forget news releases. Get to know reporters who cover your business or organization. Chances are there is just a few. Establish yourself as a regular resource of tips and information which gives you an opportunity to stay in contact with the journalists. Then, when you have legitimate news, pick up the phone and talk with them. That’s how the best stories happen today.

Only YOU can prevent PR spammers
Strumpette ran a guest perspective from David Henderson. David rails on PR people sending journalists press releases, something we’ve all heard a million times, yet we keep sending them…what is wrong with our industry? Honestly it still a...

Weblog: Engage in PRTracked: May 07, 13:30

How Not To Use LinkedIn for PR
I received a &ldquo;pitch&rdquo; &ndash; if you can call it that &ndash; via LinkedIn this morning.&nbsp; (If you want to see exactly what I saw, click the&nbsp;screen-cap pictured here at the blog.) This is a perfect example of how PR...

duh...and while we're on the subject, no amount of blogging will make a damn bit 'o difference if the story isn't sufficiently differentiable from others. Which is why i pick my clients very, very carefully. nothin particularly disruptive about my strategies, it's the clients who are. The only reason i get good coverage for them, to the degree that i do, is because i start with good stories. That way, I maintain credibility w/my cadre of "influencers"/editors/reporters, who regard me as a valuable resource of information, instead of a mercenary peddler of undifferentiable "feature-creep" or "pie-in-the-sky.

Why is the interweb full of self-righteous journos telling PR people how to behave? It takes understanding and professionalism from both sides - two traits that I haven't noticed particularly leaping at me from journalists I've dealt with in the past.

The press release, even its social media version (SMPR), is DOA.
This is a fine commentary on the importance of using the most important tools we have in Media Relations -- our relationship with the reporters and the TELEPHONE. Phone combined with short, snappy email pitches are the best way to cut through the news release Gordian knot.

David, I am surprised that a journalist of your stature could make a statement like this without, apparently, any research whatsover:

"By best estimates, public relations people in America flood the news media with upwards of 75-million news releases each year. The two largest news release distribution services – PR Newswire and BusinessWire – alone distribute approximately four million releases every month. "

In two or three clicks, at the PR Newswire home page, I found an email link for Rachel Meranus, PRN's VP of Public Relations, and I asked her about the figures you cite, which seemed high to me. Her reply, WITHIN MINUTES, was:

"Definitely high. We issue about 1,000 a day as does BW give or take."

So, under 800K a YEAR between the two services versus your cite of 1M per MONTH.

As a 25-year PR pro, I don't disagree with you that press releases are sent out far too often and frequently without considering the actual editorial needs of the targeted journalists. But that doesn't support exaggeration for the purpose of strengthening one's editorial point, or lack of research.

It's a constant nightmare for some of my crisis management clients -- "credible sounding" posts on blogs that are not based on solid research. I expect that from amateurs, but not from a pro. How did this happen?

First, it's not about the numbers but about the antiquated practice of the PR industry to believe that a press release will get attention. Let me repeat that ... the point of my piece was not about the numbers.

Second, Warren Buffett would not have purchased Businesswire if it only sent out 1,000 releases per day. My sources at PR Newswire told me that by February 20, they had carried 1.8 million releases -- wire, email, fax -- worldwide, month to that date. I am really not sure that people understand the magnitude of these services and how many releases are actually carried on the multitude of channels. Anyone ask Vocus on their traffic numbers? No matter how you view the numbers, they are staggering. But, remember, it's not about the numbers. It's about being smart in today's media environment.

Third, you need to take this from the perspective of a journalist. The perceived importance of what an organization has to say in a press release is far less than the relevance of the essential elements that today's highly competitive media needs for a story. Consequently, news releases are intentionally caught in spam filters.

Rather than dwell on numbers, may I suggest that you speak with the editors of some daily newspapers for their feedback. That's the point.

David, that was one of most eloquent rationalizations for inaccuracy that I've ever read. There are, in fact, very good uses for press releases, e,g, new product announcements, urgent business news, and to ensure that your news shows up in the in-boxes of anyone tracking your organization using any of the free or paid tracking services. But, as I said, I don't disagree that press releases are overused and misused, and I'm also not going to back down from the concept that accuracy is important to journalistic integrity. as per the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics.

The defensive criticism expressed in the comments to Henderson's piece have a certain Monty Python quality about them. The people who've gotten hung up on the numbers totally ... and cluelessly ... have missed the point he was driving home about PR's obscene volume of most-often irrelevant and fluffy "press" releases. Maybe they should wake up and smell the "B-S!"

In the general scheme of things, press releases aren't the blight on the industry that they're made out to be. Not to diminish the importance of a well-timed, well-targeted pitch and email, but sometimes journalists just need a news brief. Perhaps it's a new product, special event or a marketing/ad campaign announcement. If PR folks were forced to breathlessly pitch and email every key journalist with every bit of news, we'd be wasting their time and ours. A short news release that provides the facts isn't a bad thing.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above:

Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Submitted comments will be subject to moderation before being displayed.